Tuesday 23 July 2013

Helping myself

Hello everyone,
Normally my blogs are full of Rosie's random words of wisdom and advice thank you so much to all the people who have read it I'm amazed that so many of you have read it, I hope it's helped some of you out there. Even just one person. That means a lot to me. Anyway, this blog is a little bit more personal to me, it's taken quite a lot of courage and guts to say this but, tomorrow is the first time in my 26 years I'm going to help myself and it feels quite strange tbh because I'm so used to helping others, whether it be in my job, online, my friends at home, family, in a volunteering setting. I spend most of my days of the week helping others in a variety of settings.

Which is something which I love and I love being able to give someone that little confidence boost or that feeling that someone understands, because it can be a pretty lonely world out there. I'm so used to helping others that talking about my own issues and problems seems pretty daunting. If we could all follow the advice we give to others wouldn't life be much easier. As some of you know I've had a pretty hellish year at work, and not only has it effected my confidence but my mental health has suffered quite significantly. It wasn't till now that I finally realised that what I had been experiencing for years wasn't right, I always felt that there were so many people worse off than me. A lot of people probably wonder why I talk about dyslexia/dyspraxia a lot, it's because I personally know the effect they can have on mental health if poorly understood. This is why I'm so passionate about raising awareness about hidden conditions both learning and mental. To the outside world it looks like you have nothing wrong and a smile can hide so much. The outside world can be to quick to judge someone without knowing their full story.

A lot of people always say to me "oh you're so nice Rosie" I always think at the back of my head when I meet people you don't know what secret battles someone is going through so I never judge. I hope by writing this blog it gives other people the confidence to seek help for mental health issues, I know there's a lot of people who label themselves without stepping foot in a doctors surgery. Having a mental health issue is more than feeling a bit shy, or feeling sad one day, or not having many friends. Please if you think you may have issues go and seek help before assuming they have a label to them there still is so much help available out there even if you don't have a label there are so many amazing charities out there, you just have to be brave enough to go for t and take the first step. For me making that initial step was hard, as someone who has always struggled opening up it seemed very daunting, but I got given some advice from one of my best friends called Kate who said to me "Rose you're the only person who can help yourself." A lot of people assume that looking up to a celebrity can solve everything, and it's quite easy to become trapped in a bubble when you have someone being nice to you. I personally feel very lucky that I have had some amazing advice from the person who I look up to and find inspiring. Mollie has given me so much hope that there will be understanding people out there and if I keep talking about things people will understand better. She's kept me strong and being able to meet her a few times this year and help make her birthday book has made me focus on something positive and to stay strong for.

Also I've been lucky enough to have some amazing friends *waves* especially an amazing inspiring lady who goes under the name Casey, someone who has fought many battles herself but still finds time to help others. I also have an amazing boyfriend who has been my rock, who has been there for me so much and helped me in my darkest hours. He's never once judged, but always understood and always has an open mind which is a rare quality and I feel so lucky to have met someone as caring.
This blog is mainly to say that for a little while I'll be looking after myself and helping myself feel better so I won't be automatically helping other people but I'm still obviously there for people. If I don't immediately reply please don't be sad. Have the confidence to go out there and help yourself too, cos it will feel so much better when you do. Hopefully as time goes on more and more people will have the confidence to speak out not for attention but to help raise awareness and stigma. I hope this blog may have helped people who may be going through similar, thank you for reading this blog.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Run, run, run

On the 21st July me and my boyfriend Matt will be completing the National Lottery Anniversary Run 2013 which will be 5 miles long yes I repeat me and Matt run. Anyone who knows me well knows running well isn't my forte shall we say. I've decided to write this blog to explain why the charities we've chosen mean so much to us and hopefully maybe if you are kind enough to maybe sponsor us even if it's just a small amount it would mean so much to us.
Growing up as a child P.E was never my forte, I was very un-coordinated and un balanced and being really tall didn't exactly help too. Something which I really struggled with was running, I looked like an un-coordinated duck flapping waiting for take off. I was always the person when we had to do cross country I was always the last to finish and miles behind everyone else to finish when we had to do athletics. Running is still something which I don't particularly enjoy there's many more things which I'd much prefer to do instead of it and I still probably run in quite an un-coordinated style. This is one of the reasons we have decided to do this run to show to other people whatever you struggle with in life you should never let it hold you back, this run will be pretty demanding for me and quite difficult but I'm determined to do it, so many people with dyspraxia think oh I'm dyspraxic I can't do any sport. If you persevere you can try at anything.

The other main reason for doing this run is to raise money for two amazing charities Dyslexia Action and The Dyspraxia Foundation. When I was a little girl my mum went to the first ever Dyspraxia Foundation conference which was held in Lytham St Annes she was completely clueless about the condition and had been told at my primary school that she was a nagging mother and they didn't understand her when she asked for support for me at school. The Dyspraxia Foundation gave my mum and dad a lot of help and advice, dyspraxia is still unfortunately not very well known amongst the area of special needs. A lot of people have probably heard of the name but don't know what it entails. Or think it's just to do with bad handwriting and being clumsy. For a lot of people it can mean a lot more me included it can affect people socially, people can struggle with sensory overload. Recently the very hot weather was a nightmare for me too much heat. Organisation and time keeping are  huge issue for a lot of people, my organisation skills or lack of have caused me and my mum a lot of anxiety over the years. I'm very grateful for the times she's got me out of close shaves when I've nearly missed trains and buses. As a consequence of difficulties a lot of people get bullied and may also suffer from mental health issues. Did you know 50% of people who are un diagnosed with dyspraxia suffer from depression? In the past I've personally had a few negative experiences with people not understanding my dyspraxia properly or not attempting to. A lot of people don't see the bigger picture with it and understand that people can have good and bad days. This has had a knock on effect on my mental health and anxiety levels and confidence something which is slowly growing. This is why there should me so much more awareness about dyspraxia so many children feel stupid and misunderstood. I often descrie dyspraxia as living in chaos or having your mind feeling like it's spaghetti which can be pretty overwhelming at times. The Dyspraxia Foundation needs money to help so many people.

The second charity we are running for is Dyslexia Action, 50% of people have dyslexia and another area of sen it's called co-mobidity. Symptoms can cross over and a lot of people can struggle with a mixed bag ranging across the conditions. I've been lucky enough to spend time at Dyslexia Action head quarters in Egham Surry. They do such amazing work helping so many people and families who may need support and who's schools may not been understanding. I have found them particularly understanding when I thought I had other issues apart from my dyspraxia and I may have dyslexia too. They helped me understand why I had been experiencing some of the other issues I had been keeping a secret and too embarrassed to tell anyone. I'm now proud to learn the way I do. I didn't feel like I was stupid anymore when I talked to them.
Both charities also promote the positive aspects of the conditions which is so so important, there may be things people struggle with but there are positives. For me having them has made me a really understanding person and empathetic, it's made me determined and I don't give up easily. It's also allows me to see the bigger picture in situations both creatively and I always try and see the bigger picture about people. This is why my blog is called think out of the box as that's what I like to do.  When I'm being creative I can see things visually.

Hopefully those stories have helped highlight what amazing charities these are, I probably would have been in a lot darker place without them. If you would like to sponsor us here are the links we want to raise as much as possible:

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/Masie

Dyslexia Action page- http://www.justgiving.com/Matt-and-Rosie-Run-DA
Dyspraxia Foundation- http://www.justgiving.com/Rosie-and-Matt-Maisie

Thank you so so much it really means a lot to both of us.
Lots of love
Rosie and Matt xxx

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